Page 9 of Pregnancy Scandal
Oh…
I stifled a groan. “Long term? So, um, you wouldn’t want to be with someone for the family aspect alone? Like, just having a baby?”Oh God, I said it.
He narrowed his gaze and looked me over. “What? Just have a baby and not really be in a relationship?”
“Yes, it could be a good idea.”
The spark in his expression faded. “Really? How so? It doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. What, just get together and have a baby?”
My lips parted, and I didn’t know how to answer because I could see that he was clearly deflated and didn’t believe in the benefits of my idea.
“Yes.”
“Why wouldn’t you just go to a damn sperm bank, then?” He gave me a pointed stare.
Oh God, Gilly had said the same thing.
“Not if you want to do it the old-fashioned way,” I intoned.
He frowned and bit the inside of his lip. “Is that what you want?”
“Yes, I would like that,” I confessed.
“Abby, I’m gonna be honest with you. Not a lot of people are going to think that’s a good idea. It sounds crazy insane to me, and the fact that you bring that up on our first date is not exactly cool. Saying you want a family means something more than just creating a baby. You give the wrong impression if all you want is the baby.” He nodded.
“It works for some people.”
He shook his head. “Well, since I don’t know anyone like that, I think I’m going to call it a night. I’ll pay the bill on the way out.”
He got up before I could respond and practically fled, leaving me staring after him with my mouth open.
Sure, I understood that he was pissed off because I’d given him the wrong impression, but did he have to be so abrupt with me?
Crazy insane… that was what he’d said.
Was it really that bad?
Why couldn’t I see anything wrong with it?
I went home hoping to lick my wounds in private, but Mia was there. Mia was never home. I had three sisters. I’d lived in this house with Taylor and Mia over the course of eight years while our other sister, Vanessa, lived on her own.
Taylor had moved in after she came back from studying at Yale, and now she was leaving us for good. She already had, even though some of her stuff was still here.
She and Dylan had bought a nice beach house in Malibu, and I would say she moved out six months ago.
She would have been the one I’d expect to find at home on a regular weeknight like this.
Mia and I were the sisters who were always out.
Mia was sitting on the sofa eating a whole tub of ice cream while she watchedThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Clearly, something had happened because that tub of ice cream had been bought for sharing. Not to consume by one’s self.
“You’re back early,” she stated as I lowered myself to sit in the loveseat.
“And you’re eating ice cream. The whole tub, Mia? That was a Ben and Jerry’s family special.” So, it could feed a family of four easily. “What happened to you?”
She shook her head at me. “I hate athletes. The whole lot of them. Why would I suddenly think it was a good idea to go for a jock? I hated them in high school and college. What made me think they would be any different now?”
God, this sounded bad. Having Taylor here helped in situations like this. She was a year younger than me and what I called the sister with heart. Mia was twenty-six, and Vanessa twenty-four. We always kind of thought, though, that the one- and two-year age differences were nothing. I actually thought it did make a difference because even I knew that a jock was a jock at any age.
